Team Leader

The Team Leader plays a pivotal role in driving the company’s growth and profitability. This is not just a position—it’s a leadership opportunity recognized by senior management and peers as critical to organizational success. As the dedicated champion for a key customer, you will own overall business development, build strategic relationships, and deliver results that shape the future of our business.

 

In this role, you’ll combine vision and execution: leading initiatives that influence category performance, shopper engagement, and promotional strategies, while ensuring operational excellence and financial accountability. Your ability to lead, innovate, and collaborate will set the standard for performance across the team and the organization.

Lead the customer relationship

• Own the day‑to‑day relationship as the customer’s primary point of contact for principal‑specific needs—category management, shopper behavior insights, and promotion strategies.
• Build executive‑level trust: personally engage all key decision‑makers and represent Acosta on strategic corporate issues.

Drive growth, revenue, and sales fundamentals

• Develop and sell account business plans that deliver principal volume/share targets and core sales fundamentals (merchandising, assortment, pricing, shelving) at the lowest selling cost.
• Hit revenue goals on time while operating within budget; continuously seek ways to maximize brokerage/commissions/bonuses without increasing cost.
• Optimize trade marketing funds at the account—set clear controls, minimize sales‑related deductions, and ensure compliance with Acosta and principal guidelines.

Turn data into action

• Monitor market pricing and competitive moves; collect, analyze, and report competitor activity to inform strategy.
• Translate analytics into compelling stories using RW3, IRI Analyzer, demographics, Excel, and PowerPoint; practice fact‑based selling (e.g., average transaction size, tier migration, expandable consumption, HH penetration, store/brand loyalty).

Orchestrate retail execution

• Partner with Retail Sales Managers to launch new products, run selling drives and contests, and ensure flawless retail execution.
• Maintain accurate account distribution data and ensure alignment across field and customer teams.

Lead and develop the team

• Run monthly internal team meetings to align priorities, share insights, and remove blockers.
• Coach Business Managers and cross‑functional retail leaders (Retail Sales Managers, Supervisors, Territory Managers) with clear direction and feedback.
• Supervise, monitor, and evaluate team members; build organizational capacity by sharing customer/manufacturer knowledge and supporting execution of major initiatives.

Stay strategically aligned and continuously improve

• Keep a pulse on customer strategic plans and key industry trends (ECR, channel incursion) and leverage them to deliver results for Acosta’s principals.
• Proactively manage your development plan and lead special projects as requested to advance the business.

Education: Bachelor’s degree required. 

Experience: Proven success in customer sales with a food broker or major national company; demonstrated ability to lead and manage teams. 

Skills: Strong communication, negotiation, presentation, and organizational skills; proficient in sales‑support software and analytics tools; ability to interpret sales and marketing data for effective presentations. 

Other Requirements: Valid driver’s license, ability to travel, and comfort with technology (Excel, PowerPoint, retail systems). 

Attributes: Analytical thinker, relationship builder, and results‑driven leader.

 

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Acosta is a part of Acosta Group – a collective of the industry’s most trusted retail, marketing and foodservice agencies reimagining the way people connect with brands at every point in their shopping journey.
Specializing in retail sales services, digital strategy, and business intelligence, Acosta empowers brands to thr